Protective Layer in Solar Panel Modules with Sustainable Building Materials: The Potential of the Solar-Assisted Chemical Brushing Technique for Transparent Wood Production

García González, Clara Mei (2025) Protective Layer in Solar Panel Modules with Sustainable Building Materials: The Potential of the Solar-Assisted Chemical Brushing Technique for Transparent Wood Production. Integration Project, Industrial Engineering and Management.

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Abstract

This project investigates Transparent Wood as a sustainable replacement for Ultra-white rolled glass in solar panels. Traditional Ultra-white rolled glass, though effective, has a high environmental footprint due to its energy-intensive production. In contrast, Transparent wood, produced by delignifying/ligning modification of wood and infiltration with different polymers that match the refractive index of the balsa wood, offers an alternative with promising optical and mechanical properties. The Ultra-white rolled glass and two Transparent wood fabrication methods are assessed: the current technique used by the company Boltz, involving hydrogen peroxide immersion and PMMA infiltration, and the novel Solar-Assisted Chemical Brushing technique, which uses hydrogen peroxide brushing, UV irradiation and polymer infiltration with Epoxy resin, PLA or PMMA. The materials are compared based on sustainability (via cradle-to-grave LCA in SimaPro), economic feasibility and technical performance. Results reveal that Solar-assisted chemical brushing with PMMA at a 50/50 v% ratio (polymer/wood) provides a superior balance of low environmental impact, high optical haze, mechanical robustness and long-term durability. While it is more expensive than Ultra-white rolled glass, it outperforms Boltz’s method in all aspects. This suggests that Solar-assisted chemical brushing-based Transparent wood has strong potential as an eco-efficient, high-performance top layer.

Item Type:	Thesis (Integration Project)
Supervisor name:	Alberts-Visscher, N. and Deuss, P.J.
Degree programme:	Industrial Engineering and Management
Thesis type:	Integration Project
Language:	English
Date Deposited:	15 Jul 2025 09:21
Last Modified:	15 Jul 2025 09:21
URI:	https://fse.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/36263

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